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May 28, 1935. v F. cRoss PAPER FEEDING MACHINE 0riginal Filed June :5. 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTE'T? NEYJ.

May 28, 1935. CROSS 2,002,850

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE Original Filed June 3, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 W MAMN mm. mm 0 Q 1W 0.

May 28, 1935. F, c oss 2,002,850

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE Original Filed June 3. 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR uiz BY I iORNEY May 28, F L, cRoss PAPER FEEDING MACHINE Original Filed June 5. 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 {M 6. Fai :1

g ATI'ORNEB May 28, 1935. F. 020% 9 3 PAPER FEEDING MACHINE Original Filed June 3, 1933 "5 Sheets-Sheet 5 \IVlglllllqlllllllllhlllllIIIHI I .WIHIIIIIH 43 Q36 7 47 Patented May 28, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PAPER FEEDING MACHINE Application June 3, 1933, Serial No. 674,177 Renewed November 22, 1934 6 Claims.

Paper feeding machines employing sheet separating combing wheels usually comb the top sheets of a pile or bank toward the end of a table from which the sheets are delivered. the combing wheels being arranged close to the delivery edge 01. the table so that upon the completion of a combing separating operation the combing wheels are raised from the pile or bank and supported in raised position until the top sheet has been completely fed from the pile. In this feeding-off operation the major part or the sheet must pass beneath the combing wheels before they can be returned to the pile or bank for their succeeding operation. This required holding of the combmg wheels out of operation for such a material part of the feeding time causes the slowing up of the feeding operation to such an extent that a feeding speed equal to the normal rapid operation of the modern printing press cannot be obtained.

The main object of the present invention is to improve the construction of combing paper feeding machines to enable them to maintain a more rapid operation to meet modern requirements and to this end the present invention comprises a reorganization of the feeding machine whereby the sheets are taken from a pile or bank rearwardly or reversely of their separating movement under the action of the sheet combing devices. This object is further advanced by providing sheet delivery mechanism over the rear edge of a preliminarily separated bank of sheets with means for lifting the rear edge of a sheet away from the pile or bank and shifting it rearwardly into the bight of delivery drop rollers which complete the removal of the sheet from the pile or bank. The combing Wheels act upon a fanned out top portion of a pile Or bank of sheets for further shifting and separating the sheets in the same direction they are fanned out and toward suitable tripping devices which arrest the preliminarily separated sheets and cause the combers to be raised from the pile or bank. The delivery devices next take the rear edge of the separated top sheet, raise it from the pile or bank, while air is blown beneath the raised rear edge, and pass it rearwardly from the pile, it being clear that, since the combing wheels are arranged adjacent to the leading edge of the bank of sheets in the separating operation, a very small part of the top sheet has to be drawn beneath the combing wheels to again expose the fanned out pile or bank for the subsequent action of the combing wheels which are consequently timed to drop back into operation immediately after the separated top sheet has passed from beneath them. With this rearrangement of the feeding machine a much more rapid feed of sheets to the press can be maintained.

The improvements of the present invention are 5 particularly applicable to a double table continuous feeding machine of well-known type eK- cepting in the rearrangement of such machine to use the lower table for the bank supply table and the upper table for the feed table, the fanned 10 out bank of sheets being passed from the lower supply table up through the bank reversing throat to the feed table where the final separatmg combing devices act to move the sheets toward the controlling tripping devices and the de- 15 livery mechanism operates above the tail of the sheets for feeding the sheets off in the reverse direction. In the application of the invention to the continuous form of feeder the bank of sheets is supplied from time to time upon the lower 29 supply table more conveniently and with less lifting effort than with the old form of continuous feeder which requires the operator to carry the bundles of paper up a much greater distance to the upper table.

In order that the invention may be fully understood it will first be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and afterwards more particularly pointed out in the annexed claims.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved paper feeding machine as it is applied to a printing press;

Figure 2 is a detail side elevation of part of the same taken from the opposite side of the machine to better illustrate the driving connections;

Figure 3 is aside elevation of the machine similar to Figure 1 on a larger scale;

Figure 4 is a detail vertical longitudinal sectional view of the machine on a still larger scale, the parts being in the position they assume when operating upon a full bank of fanned out sheets;

Figure 5 is a detail view of part of the sheet feed-off delivery mechanism of the machine showing the parts in position to take a sheet from a thin or partially depleted bank of fanned out sheets;

Figure 6 is a similar detail view of part of the same mechanism in shifted position in the opera tion of delivering a sheet;

Figure '7 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 1-4 of Figure 4:

Figure 8 is an enlarged side elevation of the upper right hand portion of the machine shown in Figure 3; and

used as a final separating and feeding tablet- With this rearrangement it will be clear that the work of piling bundles of paper sheets up o n the receiving table is accomplished with less effort than with the old form of continuous feeder. In the new arrangement the operator is required t5 lift the bundles of sheets to the receiving end-- of the lower table where he conveniently ar-. ranges the new supply of sheets in partially fanned out condition with reference to the fanned out bank already in place in the machine. In the old form of continuous feeder the operator was compelled to climb a number of steps to place the new supply of sheets upon the receiving end of the top table.

In the drawings I is the lower bank supply table having journalled in suitable brackets 2 and. 3 mounted upon its opposite ends the pulley shafts 4 and 5 upon which are carried the belt support.- ing pulleys 5 and I over which operate the endless conveying belts 8 whose upper runs pass from the receiving end to the delivery end over the upper surface of the table I.

The receiving end of the table I is supported by brackets 9 secured to the under surface of the table and pivotally mounted'at I upon links II projecting up frorn a shaft I2 upon which are journalled the groovedwheels I3 which operate upon track bars I4 mounted upon upright frame pieces, one of which is shown at I5.

Side bars I extend from shaft I2 to the lower ends of angle frame members I! which carry the transverse shaft I8 supporting at its ends the grooved wheels I9 which operate upon the track bar secured to the. upright frame members 21. One of the side bars I6 carries a depending arm 22 which is threaded upon an adjusting screw 23 journalled at its ends in a frame member I5 and a stationary upright 24. The screw 23 has a hand wheel 25 by which it can be rotated to cause the feeder frame to. be moved towardand away from the printing press, the wheeled feeder frame operating upon the track bars l4 and 2B.

29 is the pile reversing drum or cylinder mounted upon shaft 21 which is freely journalled at its ends in the angular frame side bars I1.

The inner end of the supply table I is supported upon links 28 pivoted at their opposite ends upon shafts 5 and I8 above referred to. Endless hugging belts 29 pass around suitable belt pulleys mounted upon shafts 5 and I8 and also pulleys 39 mounted upon shaft 3I carried in the upper ends of the curved arms or levers 32 pivotally supported at their lower ends upon the shaft I8. Tension rollers 33 journalled upon studs carried by arms 34 pivoted upon the shaft I8 and engaged by tension springs 35 are caused to yieldingly engage the hugging belts 29 between shafts I8 and 3! to hold them in close contact with the fanned out bank or pile as it passes from the lower table I around the reversing drum 26 to the upper feed table 35 which will now be described.

36 is the upper feed table fastened to upper side bars 37 which are in turn fastened to the upper part of the side bracket I1 at one end and supported near its outer end by upright brackets 38 extending from the side bars IE to the upper table 36. This upper table 36 carries a pulley shaft 39 upon which belt pulleys are mounted, the table being slotted to permit the belt pulleys to operate with their peripheries above and below the table. Endless feed belts 40 extend around the drum 25 over the upper surface of the main portion of the table 36 around the pulleys upon shaft 39 through the table slots (not shown) and over guide pulleys 4| carried in brackets 42 projecting beneath feed table 36.

The transverse shaft 39 carrying belt pulleys upon the feed table 36 is provided at one end with a ratchet wheel 43 operated by a dog 44 mounted upon a rocking lever 45 pivoted on shaft 39 and connected through link 46 with a rock arm 41 upon rock shaft 410. which also carries the curved rock arm 41 acted upon by cam 41c upon the shaft I2I. A controlling mechanism is connected to the ratchet operating mechanism in any of the well-known ways for determining the amount of feeding action to be applied to the bank carrying belts 8, 29 and 46. In the mechanism illustrated in the drawings in the present case but not described in detail, this control of the bank feed is actuated by the time periods of operation of the comber mechanism in the manner employed in the well-known Cross paper feeding machine now in commercial use. The theory of the operation is to feed the bank more or less as the combing mechanism is required to operate greater or less time in combing the sheets into final registered position for removal from the feed table.

The pulley shaft 39 which is intermittently operated through the comber control mechanism is provided upon its end opposite the ratchet wheel 43 with a sprocket wheel 49 over which operates a driving sprocket chain 49 operating around a similar sprocket wheel 50 keyed to the drum shaft 2'! through which the bank advancing belts. and drum 26 are driven. A bevel gear 5I also keyed to the drum shaft 27 meshes with and drives a bevel gear 52 keyed to the upper end of .an inclined shaft 53 journalled in bracket bear?- lugs 54 integral with or secured to the outer face of one of the frame arms I I. Shaft 53 carries at its lower end a bevel gear 55 meshing with and driving bevel gear 56 secured to the end of shaft I8. This shaft I8 carries a sprocket wheel 5.? driving a sprocket chain 58 which operates upon and drives a sprocket wheel 59 keyed to the shaft 5 by which the bank advancing belts 8 are operating over the supply table I. The shaft I8 also drives a sprocket chain which operates Over a sprocket wheel 6| upon the shaft 3I to drive the bank hugging belts 29.

The fanned out bank of sheets indicated at S passes from the feed supply I through the bank reversing throat formed by the drum 26 and the hugging belts 29 and from this throat the bank passes above drum 25 on belts 4D to the top or feed table 35 in conjunction with which operate the final separating combing devices and the feed-off delivery devices.

Just after the bank of sheets S passes over the drum 26. it is engaged by a retaining weight preferably in the form of a heavy roller 52 which is freely journalled in the forward ends of the curved arms 53 pivotally mounted upon a transverse shaft 64 carried in the auxiliary frame side plates 65 rigidly attached to the machine frame 66 of the printing press with which the automatic feeder cooperates.

At or adjacent to the end of feed table 36 furthest away from the drum 26 are auxiliary side frames 67 supporting the sheet combing separating mechanism which imparts a. final separating action to the fanned out bank of sheets. This mechanism may be of any approved form, but is preferably of the general construction of the separating combing mechanism now employed in the commercial Cross feeding machines, or, as is shown in Cross Patent No. 812.260 dated February 13, 1906. Of this mechanism 68 represents one of a pair of continuously rotating combing wheels under the control of automatic mechanism for periodically moving them into engagement with the bank of sheets. and 69 represents one of a pair of sheet stops or tripping fingers actuated by the advance edge of a sheet to automatically arrest the action of the combing wheels by cause ing them to be raised away from the bankfof sheets.

Each of the combing wheels 68 is journalled upon the end of an arm H loosely mounted on a continuously running shaft III, to which the combing wheel is geared through a series of intermeshing gears (not shown) by which it is caused to rotate continuously. The comber supportmg arm H0 is connected by a link H2 with a shaft H3, said link being loose upon said shaft. The shaft I I3 is carried in arms H4 secured to a rocking sleeve H5 loosely mounted upon a transverse rod H6 supported in the side frames 61. The raising and lowering of the shaft H3 throws the combing wheel out of and into action,

The mechanism for raising the combing wheel and thus throwing it out of action consists of a. fulcrum arm H-l loosely mounted on the shaft III and connected with the shaft H3 by the toggle links H8 and H9. The link H8 is pivoted to the arm H1 and to the lower end of the link H9, while link H9 is rigidly secured upon the shaft H3, which is rocked at proper times to straighten or contract the toggle. The arm H1 is so arranged that when the toggle links are straightened the free end of the arm will first engage the top of the bank of sheets and then the further movement of the toggle in straightening will raise the shaft H3 carrying with it the comber supporting arm I III. In this position of the parts the arm HI acts as a clamp for holding the top sheets in place during the comple-' tion of the combing operation by the companion combing wheel. When the combing operation is complete and the feeding off devices are about to act, the rocking sleeve H5 is operated to further raise the shaft H3 which further elevates the combing wheel and lifts the fulcrum arm HI out of contact with the bank of sheets. The sleeve H5 is rocked for this purpose by means of a cam I secured to a cam shaft I2I and arranged to act upon an arm I22 secured to and projecting from the sleeve H5.

The shaft I I3 is rocked to straighten the toggle I I8, I I9 (thereby lifting the comb wheel by throwing the fulcrum arm HI into action) by the action of a spring I23, one end of which is anchored to a stay bolt I24 connecting the side frames 61 and the other end is connected to a lever I25 movably supported upon the shaft I2I and connected through link I26 with the rock arm I21 fixed upon the shaft I I3. Through these connections the spring I23 tends to rock the shaft H3 in a direction to straighten the toggle and lift the combing wheel. The lifting devices are held out of operation with the spring I23 under tension and the operation controlled by an automatic latch consisting of an arm I28 formed integral with the lever I25 and projecting into engagement with a latch nose I23 of a sleeve I30 freely journalled upon a shaft I3.I and having a radially projecting arm I32 formed with a vertical opening through which extends a fixed upright rod I33 carrying at its upper end a spring I34 confined against the arm I32 by means of a head or nut I35 adjustably mounted upon the upper end of the upright rod I33.

The mechanism for operating the latch just described to automatically arrest the action of the combing wheel, consists of a ratchet disk I33 se+ cured to the shaft I2I in position to be en-; gaged by a pawl on the upper end of the sheet stop 69 which is pivotally mounted at I31 in the lower end of an arm I38 projecting from the sleeve 312 of the latch member; with the result that a sheet being combed into registered position moves the pawl of stop 69 into engagement with the ratchet I36 which forces the sleeve I30 rearwardly upon its shaft I3I, compressing spring I34, and moving the latch nose I29 out of the path of the projecting arm I28, thereby permitting the spring I23 to straighten the toggle and arrest the combing action. After the removal of a registered combed sheet, the resetting cam I39 upon shaft I3l passes the antl-friction roller I40 upon arm I 28, forcing arm I28 outwardly and permitting the spring I34 to return the latch nose I29 into latched engagement with arm I28 and return the controlling stop 59 to active po sition to register the succeeding sheet.

The combing mechanism controls, in a manner well understood in this art, (as hereinbefore referred to) the action of the pawl and ratchet mechanism 43, 44 for periodically advancing the fanned out bank of sheets over the supply and feed tables to maintain the sheets in proper position upon the feed table for the action of the combing devices.

Under the plan of operation of the improved reorganized continuous feeding machine the suc cessive sheets are combed forwardly in the same direction in which the bank has been fanned out and partially separated and as each sheet reaches final or registered position its rear end is engaged and raised from the bank by devices which are presented above the tail end of the registered sheet. This feed-off and delivery mechanism will now be described.

10 is one of a plurality of tail drags pivotally mounted upon the free ends of levers H pivotally supported upon the shaft 64 above referred to. These drags 'ID are preferably heavy metal blocks hollowed out and shaped into forwardly presented air blast tubes 12 to which air under pressure may be supplied from any suitable source in the Well-known way. The tail drags Ill engage the fanned out bank of sheets above the table 36 just forward of roller 62 and in rear of the tail of the top sheet when it reaches registered position against the trip finger 69, this relative position of the tail drag and sheet combing trips being easily effected by adiusting the feed tables and mechanism carried thereby through the screw 23 and hand-wheel 25 above referred to.

T3 is one of a series of sheet engaging suckers mounted upon a tubular member 14 extending radially from an air tube I5 connected with a suction pump (not shown) through a flexible tube IE. The air tube 15 supporting the suckers I3 is pivotally mounted in the forwardends of parallel arms 11 projecting from a rock shaft 18 freely journalled in the side frame plates 65 and carrying adjacent to one end a mutilated gear 19 with which a reciprocating rack is in constant mesh. This rack 80 is formed upon one part of a two-part pitman 8i guiding at its upper yoke end 82 upon cam shaft 33 which carries a groove cam 84 engaging a stud 85 upon'the pitman Bi. The two parts of the pitmarrfll have a pin and slot lost motion connection Bid and the pitman operates in a guide bracket 854: secured to the face of frame plate 65. The rack 80 or lower pitman part is also formed as a guide yoke straddling rock-shaft 18 and gear 19. While the twopart pitman may be suitably arranged to afford lowering of suckers 13 to varying elevations of the bank of sheets, it will be clear that other suitable well-known means, such as extensible telescopic sucker tubes (not shown) may be employed for providing automatic adjustability of the take-off suckers to the varying elevation of the bank upon the feed table.

Arranged below and parallel with the arms 11 are the links 86 pivoted to side plates 65 and to the tubular members 14 of the suckers for maintaining the suckers in vertical position as they move up from the surface of the bank of sheets to the delivery drop roller mechanism.

81 is a delivery feed shaft journalled in the frame plates 65 and carrying delivery feeding rollers 88. 89 are drop rollers journalled upon the rock arms 90 projecting from rock shaft 9| operated by a second rock arm 92 carrying antifriction roller 53 operating upon a controlling cam 94 keyed to the cam shaft 83 above referred to.

95 are sheet supporting and guiding slots of the conveyor frame which leads from the delivery drop roller mechanism of the feeding machine to the impression cylinder of the printing press.

A driving shaft 86 driven by the printing press operates cam shaft 83 through gears 91, 9B, 99 and ID!) as indicated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. An inclined telescopic shaft llll, driven by gear 98 and J2, operates the combing mechanisms through gears I03 and IM in the usual manner.

The feathered or fanned-out bank of sheets is gradually fed forward from the lower supply table I through the bank reversing throat and over the drum 26 to the upper feed table where the tapered leading end of the bank is presented in position for the final separating action of the automatically controlled combing mechanisms. As each top sheet actuates the front stops or tripping devices 69, the tail of the top sheet rests in front of and free from the tail drags Ill which engage the next sheet beneath and hold the bank in place. Suckers 13 then engage the tail end of the completely separated top sheet and raise it from the bank and shift it rearwardly (opposite to the separating feeding movement of the bank and combing wheels) into the bight of the drop roller delivery mechanism 88, 89, which quickly removes the sheet from the bank and delivers it upon the conveyor leading to the printing press or other machine. During this feeding-off of sheett, air is shown under the raised tail end of the sheets through the tail drags or other blast devices such as are commonly employed. As each sheet is drawn rearwardly away from the trip fingers 69 beneath the raised combing wheels 68, it will be clear that the combing wheels can be timed to drop upon the bank of sheets and reedge of the feed table so that a reiativelysmall portion of each sheet has to pass beneath the combing wheels in the reverse or rear feeding-off of the sheets, which relationship provides for the rapid successive separation and delivery of sheets. In this way the speed of operation of the improved machine is greatly increased and meets the requirements for feeding to the modern rapid printing presses.

I claim:

l. The combination with a feed table and means for feeding a fanned-out bank of sheets upon said feed table, of sheet-actuated tripping devices adjacent to the end of said feed table toward which the bank of sheets is fed, sheet-separating combing devices acting above said feed table adjacent to said tripping devices to impart a final separating movement to sheets in the same direction as the bank feed, means under the control of said tripping devices for arresting the action of said combing devices, tail-drags engaging the fanned-out bank of sheets approximately sheet lengths from said tripping devices, feed-off devices arranged to engage and raise the tail end of the top sheet adjacent to said tail-drags, and delivery mechanism arranged to take the raised tail end of the top sheet and move the same-rearwardly from the feed table away from said combing and tripping devices;

2. The combination with a supply table and a feed table connected by a pile-reversing throat, of means for feeding a fanned-out bank ofsheets' from said supply table to said feed table, sheet actuated tripping devices upon said feed table re mote from said pile-reversing throat; sheet-separating combing devices acting above said feed table adjacent to said tripping devices, means under the control of said tripping devices for arresting the action of said combing devices, tail drags engaging the fanned-out bank of sheets, and feed-off devices arranged to engage and raise the tail end of the top sheet adjacent to said taildrags, and move the same rearwardly from the feed table away from said combing devices and tripping devices.

3. The combination with the lower supply table and the upper feed table connected by a, pile-reversing throat, of means for feeding a fanned-out bank of sheets from said supply table to said feed table, sheet actuated tripping devices upon said feed table remote from said pile-reversing throat; sheet-separating combing devices acting above said feed table adjacent to said tripping devices, means under the control of said tripping devices for arresting the action of said combing devices, tail-drags engaging the fanned-out bank of sheets approximately the length of sheets from said tripping devices, feed-off devices arranged to engage and raise the tail end of the top sheet adjacent to said tail-drags, and move the same rearwardly from the feed table away from said delivery mechanism arranged to take the raised end of the sheet from said feed-off devices and combing devices and tripping devices.

4. The combination with the lower supply table and the upper feed table connected by a pileieversing throat, of means for feeding a fannedout bank of sheets from said supply table to said feed table toward the free end of the latter, sheet actuated tripping devices at the free end of said feed table, sheet-separating combing devices acting adjacent to the free end of said feed table to comb sheets toward said tripping devices. means under the control of said tripping devices for arresting the action of said combing devices, taildrags engaging the fanned-out bank of sheets adjacent to the rear end of the top sheet, feed-off devices arranged to engage and raise the rear end of the top sheet, and drop-roller delivery mechanism arranged to take the raised rear end of the top sheet from said feed-01f devices and move the same rearwardly from the feed table.

5. The combination with a feed table and means for feeding a fanned-out bank of sheets upon said feed table, sheet actuated tripping devices at the end of said feed table toward which the bank of sheets is fed, sheet-separating combing devices acting upon said bank of sheets adjacent to said tripping devices to augment the sheet-separation in the same direction as the feed of the fanned-out bank, means under the control of said tripping devices for arresting the action of said combing devices, tail-drags engaging the fanned-out bank of sheets in rear of the top sheet, feed-off devices arranged to engage and raise the tail end of the top sheet adjacent to said tail-drags, means for blowing air beneath the raised tail end of the top sheet, droproller delivery mechanism arranged to take the raised rear end of the top sheet and move the same rearwardly from the feed table, and a conveyor arranged to receive sheets from said droproller delivery mechanism.

6. A sheet feeding machine comprising a feed table arranged to support a bank of sheets, means "for feeding and fanning-out a bank of sheets upon and away from the delivery end of said feed table, automatically controlled sheet-combing separating devices acting upon the bank of sheets remote from the delivery end of said table to impart a final separating movement to the sheets in the same direction as the fanning-out by the feeding means, bank holding means engaging the bank in rear of the tail end of the top sheet, and feedofi devices arranged to engage the tail end of the top sheet adjacent to the delivery end of the table and move the same rearwardly away from said combing devices.

FRANK L. CROSS. 

